Travel Blogs from Varanasi, India

... booking office to open. The Rough Guide had advised us not to attempt getting a rickshaw from the station itself, as Varanasi is rife with touts who will over-charge and take you to the wrong hotel, and be generally unpleasant and aggressive. ...

... lady traveling by herself who also stays in our hostel who is coming with us to see the ruins of a once great temple tomorrow. Varanasi has plenty of tourists, but locals are still surprised by my height it seems. People shout out "hey tall brother", or ...

... , which I tend to agree with!
***************************************** Update - March 2008 ****************************************
Varanasi is one of the holiest cities in India. Seeing the worshipers bathe in the river and bodies being cremated at ...

... his hotel room the whole time we were there, apart from breakfast on the first day. Damn.
Anyway, now we have arrived in Varanasi. I managed to catch a particularly nasty chest infection on the train ride up (34 hours!) and by the time we got here was ...

... me of a scene from Apocalypse Now (in a nice way if that’s possible). Back up through the frantic streets of Varanasi – a monkey played aggressively on a lamp post which broke away and fell to the ground. The monkey was still alive and ...

... , but Varanasi is the place that has it all, twenty times over. No, thousand years over. In Varanasi we found all that seems infamous in India and all that is inextricably connected with what makes it fascinating and beautiful. It is the most vulgar, ...

... or 3 times a year. The bumpy riding continued for another 150 kms today and we were both relieved when we finally arrived in varanasi. The hotel surya is an unusual treat and for once I am staying in quite a bit of luxury. It works out at ...

... , we did the standard 'city tour' where our guide DJ, took us to numerous temples, and then for a wander around the streets of Varanasi (still known as Benares to a number of the old timers living there). Even DJ had more about him than your usual ...

... next in line to assist in their purchase of firewood, which is very expensive for the average Indian. In a place like Varanasi, I figured it couldn’t hurt my karma to help them out. There are 60-70 cremations per day taking place at ...

... on the final arrival time. Or, as a local would bobble his head and say: It’s "just on time." My final thought on Varanasi: For a city so entirely consumed by religion, which is at the core of every one of its citizens, I’ve never seen a place ...

... had backup power. By this point we didnt mind being victims of any scheme - we just wanted a clean, safe room.
Exploring Varanasi was quite an experience - here's a bit of background from the lonely planet)"apparently there's no better way to hedge ...

... to the Ganges, Kumbh Mela . It is held every six years with a bigger gathering every 12 years. North west of Varanasi in Agrabad, where the convergence of three rivers forms the Ganges, celebrations reach their peak. This January an estimated 100 ...

Friday 10th September We had a fourteen hour train journey from Haridwar to Varanasi. I think that is the longest yet. But I slept for most of it, so it didn't seem too long. I’d got used to a cooler and manageable 26 degrees up in the north and it ...

... in India and you never have to look far for a smile, a game of cricket or someone flying a kite. There's some negatives about Varanasi and I've met some people who have hated it here. There's a lot of rubbish on the street (like most other places in ...

We arrived in Varanasi yesterday - a leg of our visit to India which I was particularly looking forward to - by way of our first overnight train journey. On our last day in Delhi we visited some impressive emporiums before heading over to the ...

... called Tundla which was around 30kms away from Agra and the only place where we were able to get onto a train to Varanasi. Sensing our bewilderment and lack of motivation for finding safe paths for ourselves, he pounced like a Bengali Tiger and persuaded ...

... tiny and teh chips were cold!!! LOL!!! (Theres a pic but I cant upload it.
Yesterday then we crosswed over into India and drove for 12 hours to Varanasi. There are just so many people here its just mad. Even in this state alone theres 150 ...

... packsafe's on both bags. Tom didnt sleep much as he lay watching anyone who came into our compartment.
We finally arrived in Varanasi where we are now and thankfully had no problems with our bags. Here we had also booked our hotel in advance and ...

We arrived in Varanasi, one of the holiest cities of India, after a 36 hour train journey from Rishikesh. Exhausted, we ate and crashed until the next morning, when we emerged into Varanasi and wandered about its ridiculously picturesque Indian alleys, ...

... and that being cremated in Varanasi and having their ashes placed in the Ganges will free them from the cycle of reincarnation.
Varanasi is intense and full of life and death. The first day we saw several funeral processions. For cremation, a family ...

... challenge of the day was getting the weight of our checked baggage down to the allowable weight for the flight from Khajuraho to Varanasi. The weight limit was only 33 pounds, which meant that we had to transfer some of our heaviest items to our carry-on ...

... so far to not cook on gas (only camp fires – which are very dirty and time consuming!). Now, India is generally dirty, smelly, polluted and congested…and Varanasi was by far the worst that we had seen. After a really long and hot drive day we ...

... it was a Krait as it was black/ dark in colour. A nightime hunter which is responsible for thousands of deaths each year in india. They hang around housing/ building and urban areas chasing rats and mice that are there after scraps of food in rubbish. no ...

... class we thought sleeping would be terrible, but it was actually okay, quiet and rather chilly, which we loved. Arriving in Varanasi this morning a genuine guy helped us get a rickshaw for cheap! Shame the driver wasn't too nice. He continually picked ...

Hello hello hello, and greetings from Varanasi!
Brownie and I finally arrived here yesterday, after a VERY early flight from Chennai, which actually went via Delhi before it got here. We were delayed by about an hour and a half in the air around Delhi ...

Hello again,
We are in India and have now been in Varanasi for a couple of days. India is quite an experience - but I'm not sure who is more of an attraction them to us or us to them. The expressions on people's faces as we drive through towns in the ...

... fierce form of Parvati.
Shiva is the god of destruction and is married to Parvati. Shiva is the god who is worshipped in Varanasi.
Parvati is Shiva's wife.
Ganesha is the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati. He has four arms and a mouse to ...